3 Healthy Living Mantras

For the Mind, Body, & Soul.

A healthy lifestyle is a general recommendation and relative to many people – the definition of health for every person is different. On the other hand, we can’t pretend that we are not being constantly bombarded with what to eat and what not to eat through marketing, making it so easy to get lost.

Somehow in this day and age nutrition has become morbid, when it really shouldn’t be because it is an act of love that implies a connection with your physical body. That connection is a forever relationship with your mechanical/physical self that is constantly changing and different for everyone.

This post is written with the intention of doing just that: giving you three essential mantras to accept and repeat. This will help you start a deep and loving connection with yourself that will inevitably have an impact on your health. So, while you continue reading, take a deep breath and receive with an open heart what you are about to read because it will be life changing for the good.

MIND

I understand and accept that this is a relationship. Thank you body for taking care of me, I am sorry for the times I have failed to do the same for you. My intentions will not be ego driven because I love you. I will strive to simply keep you healthy.

I love telling this to myself because self care and self love is not ego driven. Your ego tells you, “You’re fat/you’re skinny/you could be better/you have cellulite/I want to look like this.”

This is pretty much useless because it drives your health motivation into the wrong direction, and without knowing it we are participating in the collaborative sickness of this never-ending physical distortion epidemic. The media constantly bombards us with images, that subconsciously tells us what our body should look like. We need to be stronger than that and not allow ourselves to give into that lie.

When your motivation is to be skinny, you will be forever stuck doing diets to lose weight. That is not healthy.

So do yourself a favor, and separate yourself from your ego. Allow yourself and your body to be where is needs to be to stay healthy. That is really all that matters, period.

BODY

I fully understand that my body regenerates itself exclusively from what I eat and what I eat influences how well my body will work. I respect that because I love my body so I will do my best to give it the quality and care it deserves.

It’s very true, your body does regenerate itself in time making new cells for all of the compartments, organs, and systems inside your body. So take the time to ask yourself, “What do want my body to be made up of?”

The way we perceive things is intensely influenced by what we eat; we are conditioned by our mechanical body and if it’s missing a macro or micronutrient it will have an impact on our actions and our perception in life.

For example: On a scale of one to ten – how grumpy do you get when your hungry? Your body is stressed, you need those glycogen reserves, and a process called gluconeogenesis requires energy – that same energy you would have probably used to think. So, in the moments you want to act rational but hunger kicks in, your body says, “Oh, you were thinking? Nope, sorry, you can’t think because we need that energy to do something else. Now your stuck, and conditioned by what you feel which is hunger and this is what you get for not feeding me.”

Result? Grumpy and not thinking. See what I mean?

This would be an example of missing energy. Just energy.

A more complex example would be what happens if your missing a macronutrient, like carbohydrates.

Your body wouldn’t go to those glycogen reserves, because you don’t have any; you’re forced go to those fat reserves and do this process called liponeogenesis. Liponeogenesis is not natural; it’s an emergency process that releases cetonic bodies acidifying our blood and using fat for energy. Although fat is designed for emergency energy, it’s more meaningful purpose is for regulating hormones and proper brain function.

So, just imagine the level of stress of having to go through an emergency process every day.

A next level example is missing a micronutrient.

As a food nutrition and science student, I came across this case that absolutely blew my mind, due to a vitamin B12 deficiency. A girl who was anorexic and schizophrenic, which seems to clearly be a mental dysfunction. During her treatment, nutritionists observed that she wasn’t absorbing vitamins because her blood samples came out deficient. This didn’t really make any sense, because her diet covered her vitamins and minerals. The only possibility then was that on an intestinal level she just wasn’t absorbing nutrients. She was tested for celiac disease and it came out positive, so she was introduced to a gluten free diet.

About a month in, her blood samples came in: B12, B complexes, and iron levels went up. Three months later, now at normal vitamin levels, her schizophrenia was gone and her anorexia treatment has improved – weight gain advancements after being stuck for two years. The result was neurological damage due to vitamin deficiency, resulting in schizophrenia which had a negative impact on her eating disorder, not allowing her to advance. Wild, huh?

The point in all this is to understand that your mind is conditioned by your body, and your body is conditioned by what you eat. Our body works if you feed it well and if you feed it quality. Feeding it well means respecting that you need ALL macronutrients on a daily basis, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Quality is making sure that each one is as NATURAL and UNPROCESSED as possible. One of the grand beauties of natural foods is that it ALWAYS comes with tons vitamins and minerals. Not to mention the water, and the nutrients nature gives you as a gift for choosing well. All plant based foods are nutrient rich; making sure you eat these every day is already starting off on the right foot.

@chia_belly

@chia_belly

SOUL

I accept that what I eat has an impact on my health and an impact on the environment. Because I am love, I care and by caring I am taking part in something bigger.

What you eat does have a wild impact on the environment; accepting this is caring, and that is love. Understanding this also helps you eat with intention, which allows you to maintain a healthy lifestyle in time. Plant based foods are good for your health and good for the environment. Even the World Health Organization recommends five portions of fruits and veggies on a daily basis.

From a spiritual perspective, you are actively eating foods that mother nature designed for your body. It’s genetic material that comes from the ground that eventually becomes part of you. It’s free of harm, made with love, good for the environment, and very nutritious.

For plant-based recipes and inspiration you can visit me on my Instagram @chia_belly. Stay tuned because I have new stuff coming soon. I send you my love and good vibes from Buenos Aires to you. I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it.